By Editor
The Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele has debunked in strong terms, purported claims in some news media that he is working against the interests of the Yoruba in the National Assembly describing such claims as baseless, false and unfounded,”
Im s terse statement released by his Directorate of Media and Publicity and made available to newsmen on Wednesday, the Senate Leader stated that he had been dutifully serving the interests of Ekiti Central, Ekiti State, the South-west and generality of Nigeria since he was elected as National Assembly member.
He challenged any person with audio-visual and documentary evidence to come out in the open to present such.
This followed an alleged false reports by some media platforms quoting the senate leader as saying,; “If we allow regional system in Nigeria, we would have automatically given the easterners Biafra.”
Faulting the false statement on Wednesday, Bamidele said he never made such statement claiming that it was an attempt to pitch him against the Yoruba and other ethnic nationalities in the federation adding
that he has not make any statement about the regional government in line with the 1960 and 1963 Constitution at the 27th-28th September 2024 Senate Retreat on the Review of the 1999 Constitution.
His words; “The claim is far from the truth. I never spoke about the return to the regional government at any forum; neither did I make a claim that ‘If we allow the regional system in Nigeria, we would have automatically given the easterners Biafra.’
“It is a sheer case of misinformation and deliberate fake news, which do not in any way represent my worldview about federal governance structure,” Bamidele said.
Bamidele, however, warned that he would not hesitate to legally challenge any individual or establishment fabricating and circulating fake news against his person and office.
Bamidele, who clarifies that there was no proposal for the return to the regional government before the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, said: “How then can I oppose the proposal that is not currently before the Constitution Review Committee? I believe this statement is politically motivated to discredit me before Nigeria as a whole.
“Already, the 10th Senate Constitution Review Committee has received 37 fresh constitution alteration bills. The Committee is also considering 16 constitution alteration bills inherited from the 9th National Assembly, making 53 alteration bills altogether.
“None of these alteration bills proposed the return to the regional federal governance structure as practised in the First Republic. Linking me to an anti-regional government is a deliberate attempt to tarnish my image. I am not working against the interest of the Yoruba. I will never do so for any reason,” he said.
